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Entries with the tag: chicago blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford is likely suffering from post-concussion syndrome, not vertigo, according to Scotty Bowman, a senior adviser with the club.

On Tuesday multiple reports claimed that the 33-year-old Crawford could miss the remainder of the season with vertigo-like symptoms.

“It’s not what they’re reporting,” Bowman said Wednesday evening during Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. “Now, apparently what he really has is post-concussion syndrome.”

Crawford was placed on injured reserve Dec. 27 with what the team dubbed an upper-body injury. The goalie suffered a blow to the head during a game in late November when Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin collided with him. Crawford was assessed before returning in the same game and it’s unknown if that incident is related to his current injury.

If Corey Crawford’s “upper-body” injury keeps him out the rest of the season, which was a possibility indicated by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, then the Blackhawks will have a “lower-standings” issue.

No, wait. They already do. They’re already three points out of the playoffs, and while they continue their five-day break that ends this weekend, they’ll continue to lose ground.

Just guessing that “One Goal” was not about finishing last in the division and missing the playoffs, but hey, that’s one way to avoid getting swept by the Predators, eh?

When Crawford was placed on the injured list on Dec. 27, the Hawks were two points behind the Wild for the second wild-card spot, but held two games in hand.

Without Crawford, the Hawks have gone 5-4-1 and find themselves three points behind the eighth-seeded Kings, who also have a game in hand.

NEW YORK (Nov. 23, 2017) – Chicago Blackhawks forward John Hayden has been fined $2,486.56, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for high-sticking Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown during NHL Game No. 328 in Tampa on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 5:49 of the first period. Hayden was assessed a double-minor penalty for high-sticking.

Eddie Olczyk was sitting in a room talking with St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo on Wednesday, getting the nuances that normally aren't discussed with the media following a morning skate.

It's what the 51-year-old color analyst has missed most while being gone from the booth working with partner and NBC lead play-by-play voice Mike "Doc" Emrick.

But Olczyk will be part of the broadcast when the Chicago Blackhawks play the Blues at Scottrade Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV). After announcing that he was diagnosed with colon cancer on Aug. 8, he is six weeks into a 24-week chemotherapy regimen, and after recently taking the third of nine treatments, he called NBC to let them know he felt good enough to work.

"I feel it's going to be great for the soul," Olczyk said. "It's going to be probably one of the medicines I'm going to enjoy taking. Over the course of the last several months, I've been taking a lot."

Olczyk will be part of the WGN broadcast with partner Pat Foley for the Blackhawks game against the Edmonton Oilers at United Center on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHL.TV) and will work other games as his health allows.

The New York Post's Larry Brooks argues that the Blackhawks' top-heavy salary structure is not the reason that the Hawks were swept by the Nashville Predators:

The stars have to produce, which neither [Patrick] Kane nor ]Jonathan] Toews could do in the series in which Dennis Rasmussen scored Chicago’s only even-strength goal in what became the first 8-1 first-round sweep in NHL history.

Kane scored 30 goals in 68 games in Chicago’s three Cup championship years. When the Blackhawks lost consecutive first-round series in 2011 and 2012, No. 88 scored one goal in 13 matches. Probably not a coincidence.

More than Kane’s production was missing against the Predators, that much is obvious. Supporting pieces were unable to supply the depth that had been a critical part of the team’s championship runs. The defense is a bit too thin. The cap system has inflicted pain the way it is intended on perennial contenders.

But as [GM Stan] Bowman and his staff review the club’s demise following an unexpected 109-point season good for third overall in the NHL, there is no great need to overthink it.

The team’s most dynamic and productive player scored one goal. The team’s biggest stars — including Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov — were rendered mute. That will do it to any team in the NHL the way it always has, even when there was no such thing as a salary cap.

Hawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson received a match penalty for a shoulder to helmet hit he delivered on Blues winger Ty Rattie in the third period. Hjalmarsson is suspended for Sunday’s game against the Red Wings, a game he was unlikely to play anyway, and could face more discipline pending further review of the hit from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.

And the Blues' Twitter account:

Hitchcock says Rattie is fine after that hit from Hjalmarsson. #stlblues

Who's going to seize the opportunity with the Chicago Blackhawks this season? Who's going to grab the job openings at forward on a team that has won the Stanley Cup three times since 2010? Who's going to play in a lineup that includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa?

"The one thing I've told all those players was, 'I'm not sure which of you guys is going to make the team, but we're hoping you make the decision easy for us,'" Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said. "I think the one thing that's different this year is they don't have a lot of veteran guys ahead of them, so they're essentially fighting amongst themselves. We've got a group of six to eight young players. A number of them are going to make it."

Who makes it could have a huge effect on how far the Blackhawks make it.

The New York Post's Larry Brooks spends a fair portion of his Saturday notebook discussing the purported plan for a single-team arena to be used by the New York Islanders, but he finishes with this:

Brad Richards, who announced his retirement this week, leaves a legacy as one of the most well-liked, admired and respected players of his time among his peers.

The 36-year-old’s stay with the Rangers did not quite work out as conceived by either party, but there is no question Richards’ presence elevated the club’s professionalism and credibility throughout his three years on Broadway.

And he would have been back for more if not for the punitive cap-recapture amendment to the CBA out of the 2012-13 lockout that was aimed squarely at No. 19 and the Rangers.

There was a Cup early with Tampa Bay (with the Conn Smythe in 2004) then another late with Chicago. That no-look pass in the 2015 clincher for the Blackhawks was a jaw-dropping work of art few could have conceived, let alone executed. It is his single-frame highlight moment.

Richards had a great career for which he was quite handsomely compensated. The league is poorer without him.

NEW YORK (April 22, 2016) – The National Hockey League today announced the following updates to the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round schedule:

· The start time for Game 5 of the First Round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers has been set for 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 23, in Pittsburgh. In the U.S., the game will be broadcast exclusively on NBC. In Canada, the game will be on SN360 and TVA Sports.

· The start time for Game 5 of the First Round series between the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators has been set for 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on Saturday in Anaheim. Outside of the local markets, the game will be televised on NBCSN in the U.S. In Canada, the game will be on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

· The start time for Game 6 of the First Round series between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks has been set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on Saturday in Chicago. In the U.S., the game will be broadcast exclusively on NBC. In Canada, the game will be on CBC and TVA Sports 2.

Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw could face discipline from the NHL for the possible use of a homophobic slur during Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals Tuesday night at the United Center.

After being assessed an interference penalty late in the Blues’ 4-3 victory, Shaw was yelling at officials while seated in the penalty box and video of the incident appeared to show him using a homophobic slur.

After the game, Shaw was asked if he had used a slur.

“I mean, emotions are high, I really don’t know what’s said,” Shaw said. “I was obviously upset with the call being that late in the game (as) it doesn’t give us a chance to tie it up.”

When asked again if he used the slur, Shaw replied: “Like I just said, I can repeat myself for you. Emotions were high. I don’t know what was said. Obviously, I was upset with the call. It was late in the game like that. I wasn’t happy with the call.”

Rookie Chicago Blackhawks winger Artemi Panarin racked up an impressive 77 points in his first kick at the National Hockey League this season, but the number people continue to look at is 24, as in birthdays.

It’s not the quiet Russian’s fault, but his birth certificate might be a gnawing concern come Calder Trophy voting time — he’s five years older than Connor McDavid. He also played 263 games over six years in the KHL, maybe the second best pro league in the world, while the Edmonton Oilers teenager sprang from the junior Erie Otters without missing a beat, save for the missed step when he lost his balance, plowed into the boards and broke his collarbone in early November.

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, who will have McDavid on his Team North America Young Guns aggregation for the World Cup, waves the pompoms for the kid, of course, but he sees Panarin every day and loves him even if his $812,500 salary ballooned by $2.595 million because he achieved group A perks (60 points, 25 goals) for $850,000 and any one of his group B carrots for another $1.725 million (top 10 NHL forwards in points; he was eighth).

So next year, his cap hit will be $3.387 million, not $812,500, for a star-laden team in cap hell with 15 players signed for 2016-17 at $65.85 million.

“What a performance to do what Artemi did, as a first-year player … it’s always puzzled me why people look at that (bonus reached) as a bad thing,” said Bowman, keeper of the bulging purse in Chicago. “He came in and did something, if not unheard of, then certainly you haven’t seen a first-year player finish that high in points in a long while.”

NEW YORK (April 10, 2016) – The 2015-16 National Hockey League regular season concluded on Sunday with Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane capturing his first career Art Ross Trophy as the League’s scoring champion, Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin claiming his sixth career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader and the Anaheim Ducks tandem of Frederik Andersen and John Gibson winning the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders who play at least 25 games for the club allowing the fewest goals.

Cox says that the NHL wants to revamp the coach's challenge for offsides by placing television cameras overhead and along the boards on the blueline (for testing in New York area arenas), or possibly changing the offsides rule to breaking the plane of the blueline (the puck would have to cross first);

Friedman says that once Mike Richards' court date on Wednesday is heard, if there is a resolution, teams will speak to his agent, Pat Morris, about potential employment;

Friedman also says that the Winnipeg Jets and Jacob Trouba will probably wait until after the season before they exchange more contract numbers (Trouba is restricted-to-be);

Cox states that at the NHL's Board of Governors meeting next week, the NHL will end its compensation system for coaches and executives, going forward, anyway. The teams that owe others draft picks will still have to honor them;

Exiting COO John Collins won't be replaced "for the next little while";

And the Board of Governors will discuss what kind of expansion do the Governors want and what teams they want to see;

Friedman states that Viktor Tikhonov is on waivers most likely because Bryan Bickell will return to the Blackhawks;

And the Canadiens-Bruins Winter Classic will be preceded by the NWHL's Les Canadiennes playing the Boston Pride outside.

I have no idea whether or not I would want Patrick Kane to date my sister. I don’t know him except from afar and through a locker-room interview scrum or two. But that hypothetical would not inform my choice for the Hart Trophy if I were to have a ballot, nor should it become an issue when votes are cast immediately after the regular season.

There is no morals clause attached to the Hart, which goes to, “The player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”

At this point, with Kane on a franchise-record tying 21-game point streak he aims to break Sunday night, the Blackhawks’ winger is the MVP frontrunner, with Dallas’ James Neal and Tyler Seguin and the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist, the Islanders’ John Tavares and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin also in the conversation.

This is a case about hockey. There is nothing more to see here beyond Kane’s brilliance on the ice, just as the Erie County’s DA office decided there was nothing more to see in the “so-called ‘case’ ” there, either.

An update from his agent sent Brandon Saad's mind racing on the night of June 29.

Negotiations between the restricted free agent and the Blackhawks had stalled earlier that day and one of the most talented young players in the NHL was at home coming to grips with a new reality: Saad was about to become another in a long line of Hawks salary-cap casualties.

"You go through different scenarios," Saad said. "You really don't know where you're going or if it's really going to happen. It's a feeling … I for the first time went through and it's not fun."

The next day Saad got the word: He was no longer a Blackhawk. He had been traded to the Blue Jackets. Suddenly, one of the building blocks of the Hawks' future was sent packing in the most surprising move of the summer.

"You never think it's going to be you until it actually happens," said Saad, who will face his former Hawks teammates for the first time when the Blue Jackets visit the United Center on Saturday night. "Going back and forth with numbers, years (and) things like that, we didn't see eye to eye so at the end of the day it had to be done."

• How about Michal Neuvirth? The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender made 30 saves en route to a 3-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. It was Neuvirth's second consecutive shutout. He made 31 saves in a 1-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Monday. His biggest save Wednesday came when he stoned the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa on a breakaway to secure Philadelphia's 1-0 lead. For all the years the Flyers struggled with their goaltending, Neuvirth seems like he could be the answer.

• The Ottawa Senators trounced the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, and Columbus should be a lot better than 0-4. They proved it last season with a strong finish, but the 2015-2016 season has begun with a major skid that is cause for concern.

• It was an interesting night all around the NHL on Wednesday, including a shocking development in the West with that stunning Coyotes shutout of the Ducks. Arizona rookie Anthony Duclair recorded his first career hat trick, while goaltender Mike Smith has returned to form and made 37 saves en route to the shutout win.

Blackhrawks breakout rookie Artemi Panarin is quickly learning about life in the United States, with help from teammate and sherpa Viktor Tikhonov.

Panarin can now venture out in downtown Chicago and go shopping on his own without getting lost.

“Please. Shirt. Medium,” are three important words Tikhonov imparted on Panarin.

“The first week, it was a bit of a hand-holding experience,” said Tikhonov, who is named after his grandfather, the famous Soviet coach. “He’s tried to do stuff on his own. I taught him how to work the Uber app, so he uses that to get to the rink.”

Panarin knows only a few words of English. But his limited vocabulary hasn’t stopped him from capturing the attention of the Blackhawks with one-liners.

When asked by reporters for his favorite phrase, Panarin shot back: “What the (bleep)!”

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today they have agreed to terms with defenseman Brent Seabrook on an eight-year contract extension, which runs through the end of the 2023-24 National Hockey League season.

Seabrook, 30, has helped lead the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup championships over the past six seasons. He holds franchise records among defensemen in regular-season overtime goals (six), postseason goals (19) and postseason overtime goals (three). Seabrook also helped Canada win a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Last season, Seabrook received over 1,000,000 fan votes en route to his first All-Star Game appearance. The 2015-16 season will mark Seabrook’s first as alternate captain.

Buffalo attorney Thomas Eoannou has dropped the Patrick Kane accuser as a client over “misrepresentations” of the evidence bag left at the accuser’s mother’s house.

“I don’t have confidence in the way the bag was found, Eoannou said at a promptly called news conference Thursday night.

One day earlier, a news conference was held by Eoannou to announce the rape kit evidence bag that had contained DNA evidence collected in the Kane investigation was anonymously delivered to the mother of the alleged victim. The mother of the alleged victim found the torn bag at her home, sandwiched between the storm door and the front door at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Eoannou told The Buffalo News on Wednesday the development “calls into question the integrity of all the physical evidence in this case.”

Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III had told The News that Eoannou’s allegations about the evidence “will definitely be investigated.” He said he was surprised to hear that an evidence bag had been left at the home of the alleged victim’s mother and said he has never heard of such a thing in more than 27 years as a prosecutor.

“In 27-plus years, I’ve never seen a rape kit tampered with,” Sedita said. “It will be investigated, professionally investigated.”

In our exclusive weekly installment with the legendary, 14-time Stanley Cup-winning coach and executive, Scotty Bowman was asked: "If you were commissioner for a day, what are the top one or two things you would immediately change or add to the game? "

The two things, Bowman said: make the neutral zone bigger again and change the way goalies can pass the puck.

When the NHL made rules changes following the 2004-05 lockout, it took eight feet out of the neutral zone and split them in half to add to each end zone. It was designed to add more space for skaters in scoring areas, but Bowman thinks it's made scoring tougher.

Via the Score's Craig Hagerman, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno weighed in on his team's recent trades as an organizational show of force, discussing the trades for Brandon Saad and signing of Gregory Campbell with Sportsnet's Luke Fox:

In a cap-relief transaction, [Blackhawks GM Stan] Bowman dealt away the most talented young forward no one knew was available in a seven-piece move that saw Columbus give up forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin and Corey Tropp.

But there's no debate which team landed the best player. Columbus wasted no time locking up Saad, a restricted free agent, for six years, leaving a small-market dressing room positively giddy.

“I was really, really happy. The organization is making a statement about what type of team we want to be, how serious we are about winning. You bring in a player like Brandon Saad, who’s won two Cups already, it’s a big statement," captain Nick Foligno told us this week at the Smile Zone Foundation golf tournament in Milton, Ont.

"It’s sad because you lose a few friends, but it’s a huge pickup for us. He’s an unbelievable talent, and a young player at that. You’ll get a lot great years out of a player like him. Another guy—they bring in [former Boston Bruins centre] Gregory Campbell, who’s already won a Cup. They’re really pushing for us to become the team we know we can be.”

Kimmo Timonen finally got his day with the Stanley Cup on Tuesday, as he brought the prized trophy to his hometown of Kuopio, Finland, to a parade of more than 10,000 well-wishers. It was a momentous occasion, symbolic of the long journey for the veteran defenseman, who sealed his career with the ultimate prize after 16 NHL seasons. Almost his entire 2014-15 season was derailed by blood clots, a harrowing medical situation that threatened to end his playing days prematurely, but after being traded from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Chicago Blackhawks in February, he eventually recovered to appear in 16 regular-season games and 18 games in the postseason. His last was Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, when the Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the team’s third Cup in six seasons. It was Timonen’s first, however, and afterward, he did not hesitate about his future. While on the ice while celebrating with the Cup, he announced his intentions to hang up the skates.

He retired as a Stanley Cup champion. Is there any better way to go out? Here are five other players since 2000-01 who also played more than 1,000 NHL games and chose to leave the game in the same fashion.

As the Stanley Cup was being hoisted just a few feet away after the Blackhawks' victory over the Lightning in Game 6, one player stood on the ice at the United Center and matter-of-factly said, "all hell is going to break loose soon."

He wasn't referring to the raucous celebration that has been ongoing since the Hawks won their third Cup in six seasons, but the roster turnover that is looming because of salary-cap issues.

The Hawks have been through this before, jettisoning half the roster after winning their first Cup in 49 years in 2010. The damage wasn't as significant after the 2013 championship, but change is inevitable and it doesn't take a math whiz to understand why.

Including three goaltenders, one of whom won't be on the opening-night roster — most likely Antti Raanta — and excluding restricted free agents Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger, the Hawks have 15 players signed for next season with cap hits totaling roughly $65 million. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said recently that the cap for next season, expected to be announced this week, will come in around $71 million.

"I guess everyone wants to know if it's a good number or a bad number," Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said. "Obviously, if it were $80 million it would be easier for us. If it's going to be $70 (million) or 71, whatever it will be, we'll make it work. If it comes in at 69.5 or 71.5, that could be the difference between what we decide to do."

The New York Post's Larry Brooks argues that the Chicago Blackhawks may be a dominant team, but are no dynasty:

The Blackhawks are a historically excellent team produced by a model hockey operation. Their three-in-six in the hard cap era is a noteworthy accomplishment. Sharp management is the constant linking this cap era with everything that came before it. That and Scotty Bowman, who keeps finding rings the way kids find Easter eggs.

But the rush to canonize these Blackhawks and include them with the dynastic Canadiens, Islanders and Oilers is foolish. Three-in-six is something, all right, but it isn’t four straight, five straight, four-in-five, or 19 straight series.

It’s the same as the Red Wings’ three-in-six from 1997-2002, better than the Devils’ three-in-nine from 1995-2003, one more than the Avalanche’s two-in-six from 1996-2001, and though those teams didn’t have to deal with the cap, they did have to deal with one another — and a perennially powerful Dallas team — at the top.

And I would take all of those teams over this Blackhawks squad in a fantasy tournament, just as I would take the Red Wings that went four-for-six from 1950-1955 in hypothetical all-time matchups.

It’s a double-edged blade. Just as the cap has made it more exponentially more difficult to keep a powerful team intact, it has also diluted the opposition. The bar just isn’t set as high. No great team, by the way, has ever faced less of a challenge than the five-time, 1956-60 champion Canadiens once Detroit ownership exiled Ted Lindsay in the summer of 1957.

The Toronto Sun's Mike Zeisberger suggests that five members of the Chicago Blackhawks are Hockey Hall of Fame-worthy candidates already:

Joel Quenneville, the man who is third on the all-time regular-season coaching wins list and the owner of three Stanley Cup rings as head coach.

Duncan Keith, the Canadian defenceman whose trophy case continues to balloon, thanks to three Cups, the 2015 Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, two Norris Trophies as the NHL’s top defenceman, and two Olympic gold medals.

Patrick Kane, who has been a key cog in the Hawks Cup runs, scoring the title-winning goal against Philly in 2010, then setting up Keith for exact same thing in Chicago’s 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

Jonathan Toews, the valiant captain of this dynasty who himself has hoisted the Cup three times and has two Olympic gold medals as well.

And Marian Hossa, three-time Cup champion and supremely skilled two-way player who has 1,056 career points and is just 14 goals shy of 500.

With these five, along with defenceman Brent Seabrook, making up the heart-and-soul core of this team, how can anyone be surprised at the renewed success these Hawks continue to have?

We don't have to debate whether the Chicago Blackhawks are a dynasty because Gary Bettman made them one by commissioner's decree. He referred to them as a "dynasty" in his remarks leading up to presenting the Stanley Cup to Jonathan Toews after the Blackhawks won the Cup with a 2-0 triumph against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

That makes the Blackhawks the most decorated team in the post-salary cap era, and deserving to be called one of the top teams in NHL history.

Their current run doesn't measure up statistically to the great Montreal Canadiens teams from 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Toe Blake coached the Canadiens to five consecutive Stanley Cups from 1956-60. Scotty Bowman, who is an adviser for the Blackhawks, guided the Canadiens to four consecutive titles from 1976-79. The Canadiens had a 16-3 record in those four Stanley Cup Finals. Now Scotty's son, Stan, has been general manager of the three Stanley Cup winners in Chicago.

Chicago's run also isn't as lengthy as the New York Islanders run of four consecutive championships from 1980-83. The Edmonton Oilers also have their own distinction by winning five Stanley Cups over seven seasons from 1984 to 1990.

But the Blackhawks are now in the conversation to be called one of the great teams because they have won three titles at a time when the league is in a period of undeniable competitive balance. The statistical difference between the No. 1 team in the league and the No. 16 isn't as pronounced as it once was.

It's difficult to suggest that the Chicago Blackhawks haven't earned the enviable position of wrapping up a third Stanley Cup championship of the "modern era" at home on Monday, thanks in large part to Saturday's 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They got the game's first goal via a Bishop gaffe yielding a Patrick Sharp tally, they weathered the Lightning's 2nd-period storm and Valtteri Filppula's game-tying goal, and in the 3rd, Bishop had little chance on the defensive mash-up (literally) that led to Antoine Vermette's gamer:

The Blackahwks have simply been calmer and more poised in the situations that determine the outcome of games, and that's why they're pretty bloody close to winning another Cup.

Both teams are clearly mentally and physically fatigued playing into the middle of June, but when the Hawks have had to be sharp, they've been razor-sharp.

The Chicago Blackhawks' 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning was an utterly bizarre one. After a first period that was so dull that it couldn't slice melted butter, the pace and intensity of play ramped up to a feverish pitch in the 2nd and an overtime-like pace in the 3rd period, and as Chiago raced out to 1-0 and 2-1 leads on surprise starter Andrei Vasilevsky, Tampa Bay roared back with incredibly, incredibly energetic play...

But the visibly-fatigued Blackhawks defended like a team knowing it might be out of the series if it went down 3 games to 1--even with a 2-day break before Saturday's Game 5--and as a result, the series heads back to Tampa Bay tied at 2 games apiece, with the Hawks having rope-a-doped their way to victory.

Brandon Saads goal--and Andrei Vasilevskiy's overreaction on the cross-crease play that led to his legs opening for said goal--sealed the deal:

Monday's Blackhawks-Lightning game seemed to be destined for overtime until Victor Hedman made an amazing pinch, he sent a lateral pass to Cedric Paquette, and with 3:11 left in the 3rd period, Paquette untied a 2-2 game and gave the Lightning a 3-2 win and 2-1 series lead:

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 5, 2014 – The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to send the Stanley Cup Final to Chicago even at one game apiece with a Game 2 victory on Saturday night against the Blackhawks at 7:15 p.m. ET on NBC. NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – will provide comprehensive streaming coverage of Game 2.

Coverage of Game 2 begins on NBC on Saturday evening immediately following the network’s coverage of the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes, as American Pharoah tries to become the first horse to complete the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

Three-time Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator and Sports Illustrated 2014 Media Person of the Year Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Emmy Award-winning “Inside the Glass” analyst Pierre McGuire will have the call of Game 2 from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. Analyst Eddie Olczyk will not call Game 2 as he will be working on NBC’s Belmont Stakes coverage. Host Liam McHugh and analysts Mike Milbury, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones will anchor NBC Sports Group’s intermission and post-game coverage.

BLACKHAWKS-LIGHTNING POSTS BEST STANLEY CUP FINAL NON-OT GAME 1 OVERNIGHT IN 18 YEARS

With a 4.23 metered market rating, the first game of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final posted the highest overnight rating for a Game 1 that ended in regulation in 18 years (DET-PHI on FOX; 5.2), and ranks as NBC’s second-best SCF Game 1 overnight ever, behind only the 2013 triple-overtime Game 1 between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks (4.9 overnight).

Last night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 1 on NBC between the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning (8:15-11 p.m. ET) delivered a 4.23 metered market rating, up 11% vs. last year’s NYR-LA Game 1 (3.82; OT).

Locally, the Blackhawks’ 2-1 comeback win over the Lightning produced a 28.0 HH rating, the third-highest ever in Chicago for a Blackhawks game on NBC, trailing only the Stanley Cup Final-clinching Game 6 matchups in 2013 and 2010. Last night’s 28.0 overnight rating for Game 1 was up 12% vs. 2013 (25.1), and up 66% vs. Game 1 in 2010 (16.9).

Last night’s Game 1 produced a 17.9 rating in the Tampa market, the highest rating ever in Tampa for a Lightning game on an NBC network, up 50% vs. last Friday’s ECF Game 7 against the New York Rangers on NBCSN (11.9), and up 47% vs. Game 1 of the Lightning’s last SCF appearance in 2004 against Calgary (12.2; ESPN).

The Tampa Bay Lightning looked like they were going to nurse a 1-0 lead to a Game 1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final, but sitting on a lead against the Blackhawks isn't the best defensive strategy, as illustrated by the pair of goals that Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored just 1:58 apart, giving Chicago a 2-1 victory:

NEW YORK (May 30, 2015) – The National Hockey League announced today the schedule for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, which begins Wednesday, June 3, in Tampa Bay.

Based on their superior regular-season point total, the Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lightning will host Games One and Two of the best-of-seven Final, as well as Games Five and Seven, if necessary.

Games Three and Four, as well as Game Six, if necessary, will be hosted by the Western Conference Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

In the U.S., NBC will broadcast Games One and Two of the Final and, if necessary, Games Five through Seven. NBCSN will telecast Games Three and Four.

Word is that Mike Babcock is pushing for [Mark] Hunter to be named general manager of the Leafs. Brendan Shanahan would be wise to look elsewhere. Shanahan needs Hunter to find players. A general manager won’t be able to spend the kind of time scouting that the Leafs require to properly rebuild. Hunter may want the job but the practicality of it doesn’t make sense...

Those who say this is the last shot for the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t really paying attention. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith — the best 1-2-3 in hockey — are signed through 2023. Corey Crawford is signed until 2020. Marian Hossa is signed through 2021. Niklas Hjarmalsson is signed until 2019. So if you lose a Patrick Sharp here, a Brad Richards there and sign Johnny Oduya, Brandon Saad and Brent Seabrook to new deals, there’s no reason this kind of success can’t continue for several more years...

Two more things on Keith: 1) His cap hit is $5.5 million, making his contract one of the best in hockey. By comparison, the Dion Phaneuf contract looks ridiculous. 2) Should the Blackhawks win Saturday night, Keith may be the leading candidate to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, but he’s not a Norris Trophy finalist. For the record, he was on my ballot, ahead of both P.K. Subban and Erik Karlsson, who are up for the award.

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If Steve Yzerman can juggle the salary cap prudently, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be Stanley Cup contenders for years. Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Victor Hedman and Alex Killorn are all 25 and under. And figuring they pick up some assets for the disappointing Jonathan Drouin, that should make them even stronger...

When Brian Lawton tried to acquire defenceman Tomas Kaberle when he was general manager in Tampa, the Leafs first asked for college kid Alex Killorn. That conversation didn’t last long.

The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday evening, and Jonathan Toews' pair of goals paved Chicago's way:

The NHL had posted his on May 28th, but this still holds true, and all you have to do is give the Lightning home-ice advantage (thanks to a 108-point finish to Chicago's 102) to figure out where the games will take place:

STANLEY CUP FINAL WILL OPEN WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3

NEW YORK (May 28, 2015) -- The National Hockey League today announced the schedule of dates for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, which will begin on Wednesday, June 3.

The Stanley Cup Final will match the winner of the Eastern Conference Final, either the New York Rangers or [the] Tampa Bay Lightning, against the winner of the Western Conference Final between the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks. Both best-of-seven series are tied, 3-3.

The club which earned the greater number of standings points during the 2014-15 regular season[, Tampa Bay,] will have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final and will host Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, Games 5 and 7. The other club will host Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, Game 6. The Rangers collected a League-high 113 points, followed by the Ducks (109), Lightning (108) and Blackhawks (102).

The start time for all Stanley Cup Final games will be 8 p.m., ET. National broadcast information will be released when available.

GAME 7 OF THE 2015 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL TO BE BROADCAST ON NBC IN THE U.S.

NEW YORK (May 28, 2015) – The National Hockey League today announced that Game 7 of 2015 Western Conference Final between the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks will be broadcast on NBC in the U.S. This is an update to the schedule as it was previously announced the game would be televised on NBCSN.